Tales of the Underwater Warriors
[dropcap]M[/dropcap]ost people associate fishing with trolling lures for bill fish, or maybe casting popping corks with live shrimp to speckled trout. These tactics are very successful and often times very exciting, but imagine combining the thrill of fishing with rush of hunting. Around the docks and cleaning tables in the northern Gulf of Mexico, countless fish are brought in. If you pay attention to who is bringing these fish in, you will see captains and mates that produce time and time again. However, if you look for the boats with red and white dive flags, you will see fishermen that produce 99.9% of the time. It never fails: to have a new comer to the dock walk up to a boat of spear fishermen and ask, “What were you guys using for bait”? We usually just smile and wait for the reply as one the guys pick up a spear gun, while standing over a pile fish and say, “Cold Steel–works every time”.
Hell Divers, Sea Tigers, Sea Scamps, and many other dive clubs all over the gulf congregate to the Northern Gulf for the underwater hunting grounds. These grounds are, of course, the hundreds of oil rigs that decorate the coastline for miles and miles. Tuna, mahi mahi, cobia, snapper, grouper, and many other fish are drawn to these fish’s oasis. Many of the platforms receive a constant assault from anglers on the surface; but when the divers go in, it is a whole new ball game.
I had the pleasure of speaking with some of the “big guns” in the diving scene. Here are some of their stories that are just amazing (and downright scary) Enjoy!
Capt. Troy Wetzel, who has numerous state records, has been diving the Venice, Louisiana area for over 20 years. Troy is a fishing guide both above and below the water. He used to run the Kingfish, which he built by hand, for mainly dive charters. Capt Troy was diving just 6 days before Hurricane Katrina and started out the fishing for amber jack in about 300 feet of water.”We kept dropping down monster hard tails on 250lb power pro, and getting broke off every time”, Troy said. He asked his friends if he could jump in and see how big the AJ’s were–they all loved the idea. Troy dove to about 200 feet and saw what was breaking off the heavy super braid line. An enormous AJ swam broadside, and that was all Wetzel needed for a good head shot. The shaft hit the fish good, but it was still a very large AJ. The fish went ballistic and drug Troy through the rig legs. While being drug through the water, Troy managed to grab onto a piece of the rig to prevent being pulled any further down. Wetzel adds, “I was stretched out with the gun going one way, and me hanging on to the rig for dear life”. The fish finally tired and Troy slowly swam to the surface. Wetzel eventually got control of the fish. At the dock, it weighed in at 98lbs. I asked Troy if he was done for the day after such a traumatic event. Wetzel answered, “Nah man, I decompressed and went down one more time”. Troy’s next dive yielded a 60lb gag grouper!
Mark Peart, former president of the Hell Divers, is one heck of a diver. Peart is always at the top of every dive tournament, including the Hell Divers Rodeo. You can usually find Peart in his red 32 Twin Vee (Cat I Lac) almost every weekend diving with club members and friends. Much like Capt Troy, Mark is not a small man by any means; so to hear him say a fish kicked his butt was a story that needed to be heard:
“We were diving Eugene Island block in about 120 feet of water and needed a big fish for the rodeo. The rig was not holding big fish, so we dove to the bottom and found some big boys. Stingrays were all over the bottom swimming on top of one another. Since they are legal to take, we all tried to find the biggest one. I saw mine right away and swam after it. I got on top of it and put the shaft in the head of the beast. I thought I got a kill shot, but every time I pulled up, it would swim in every direction. The stingray started swimming away from the rig and had me straightened out. I got a couple of wraps around the rig with my cable and left it there to calm down. I had about 500lbs of air, so I had to head to the surface. All of my friends were in the boat laughing and high fiving each other because they too had big rays. When I got to the boat, I saw the biggest was maybe 50lbs, so I just grinned and chilled out while I decompressed. No one believed me, so when I came up after my second dive their jaws just dropped. The fish took up the entire back deck on the twin vee, and weighed in at 130 lbs! That fish was one of the toughest things I have ever fought in my life.
Captain Al Walker is not only an accomplished spear fisherman, but he has also become well known for his skills in underwater filming and movie production. He has worked with the discovery channel, the travel channel, and MTV. Capt. Al is an all-around fun guy to be around, so it was no surprise one of his best dives was with a rival dive group. Walker, who is a sea tiger, was invited to go along with some Hell Diver buddies of his to a secret spot in High Island block close to Texas. This story can only be recreated by Al himself (sorry you can’t hear the accent):
“I was going on a trip with my buddy Raif Fenteal and team “Lick em and Stick em” on his 26 foot Bertram out of Cameron. We had 6 drums of fuel, 1000lbs of ice, 1 air compressor, 1 tank per man(4 divers), and all of our dive gear. We all had to stand on the bow to get the boat to plane off and it really never did. The first day I just filmed everybody because the conditions were perfect, clean water and clear skies. I filmed a couple of guys shoot 80-90 lb amber jack. It was awesome! The money fish of the day was a 70lb gag grouper. The second day was a little different. We were diving a rig that usually held big warsaw grouper. The guys talked me into bringing my gun in with me. My good friend, Andrew Henry, dove down with me; and before I knew it, a sow red snapper swam within range. I saw the big girl first and hit her right in the eyes. The snapper would later be the biggest of the trip, weighing in at 33lbs. On the last day, we were only after big AJ, and hopefully one that was over 100lbs. We pulled up to our rig, and Raif went in first. He came up after his dive, disgusted, because he missed a monster–one estimated at close to 140lbs. I couldn’t take it anymore and jumped in for the last dive of the day with my dive buddy, Stan Smith. I was close to 200 feet down when I saw the creature. My first thought was that it was close to 110. But when I got closer, I knew it was bigger. The big AJ swam on the outside of the rig and gave me a good shot. Stan was watching the entire the thing happening, and later told me he was praying I wouldn’t shoot. I hit the fish in the body and all hell broke loose. He got all wrapped in the rig and was dragging me with him. When I got close to the fish, he beat me senseless, and I was running out of air. I still don’t how I did it, but I got control of the fish and made it to the surface with no time (or air) to spare.
Back at the dock, the AJ weighed in at 126.12 lbs. With the 33lb snapper, it gave my club (sea tigers) a one point victory over Raif and the Hell divers. Even though we are all good friends, I didn’t get invited back for 5 years to dive with those guys”.
Call spear fishermen what you want, but they are the most extreme sportsman on the planet. They are almost all very athletic, very well educated, and at the same time a little unbalanced. In my dealings with them, they are unbelievably helpful, but at same time curious. The one thing they all have in common is safety– they preach it like the gospel. So please consult with a professional before you take a shot at spearfishing. As always, have fun and be safe.
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